Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1887-09-21
Tho short Haul il Europe.

Theshort Haul II Europe!
At this time, when railroad corpora
lions and merchants are more or less ex-
ercised over the final Interpretation to
be given to the long or short haul clause
In the Inter-S State Commerce Law, inform.
alton as to European usage onthis point
win be- Of interest and may possibly
prove Instructive This information is
! given in an article written BY Prot. E.
R. A. Seligman, which is published in
the last issue of the Political Science
Quarterly. The article is clearly and
carefully written and the inquiry covers
most of the leading countries of Europe
and some of the smaller ones. A.s
In England the decisions of the courts
and of the Railway Commission are not
uniform on the long and short haul
question. Originally the doctrine was
laid down that larger rate. must al
ways be charged for the longer than tho
shorter distance in the cases where the
shorter formed part Of the longer. This
is the principle sought to be established
by the statesmen of the Reagan school
in this country. British jurists have
recently begun to take different view,
however. One decision was made a
few months ago in which it was held
that the charge for the long distance
could legitimately be made less than
for the short distance, provided the
short distance. was included in tho
longer one. A bill has been introduced
into Parliament to give legal sanction
to this practice in certain cases.
France, in the traffic which begins
and ends in that country, usually re-
quires a greater charge for the long
than for the short haul. But in that
which pushes beyond the national
boundary line this usage is not strictly
adhered to. '.The tariffs de transit, OF
throu gh tariffs for goods passing
through France on the way to another
state" says Prof. Seligman, "and
the tariffs de exploration, or through
rates for goods designed for exporta-
ton, are exempted from the application
of the principle, so that greater charges
are permitted to intermediate points"
than to terminal points.
In Germany the usage is somewhat
similar to that in France. Most of the
railroads in Germany are owned by the
individual States through which they
run. Inside State lines the rule that q
larger rate must be charged for the
longer than for the short distance is en-
forced with more or less rigidity. But,
as in France through traffic, whether Of
foreign goods passing across to another
country or German goods intended for
expectation, is exempted from the ap-
plication of this rule. Neither is the
rule observed in traffic to or from great
| competitive centers, where waterways
or foreign railroads come into competi-
ton with domestic roads.
In Austria, Italy and other countries
the practice is substantially the same az
that prevailing in England, France and
Germany. The greater charge in ali
these nations is exacted for the longer
distance than for the shorter one in all
the purely domestic traffic, except
where waterways or foreign roads
come into active competition with the
home lines. But in through traffic this
principle is not rigidly maintained.
The Interstate commerce law, which
went into operation in the United
States early in the month of April last,
provided that lit shall be unlawful for
any common carrier subject to the pro-
visions of this act to charge or receive
any greater compensation in the aggre.
| gate for the transportation of passen-
gers or of like kind of property, under
substantially similar circumstances and
conditions, for shorter than for 4
longer distance over the same line, in
the same direction, the shorter being
included in the longer distance"
Judge Deady's recent decision it will
be remembered is that ''freight carried
to or from a competitive point is
always carried under substantially dis
similar circumstances and conditions
from that carried to or from non COM
petitive points," The particular kind
of competition the Jud &c had in mind
when he delivered that opinion was tho
competitions. by water routes. But tho
principle isS virtually the same, and tho
decision would doubtless have been SIM
liar if the competition were by railroads,
either domestic and foreign. This IL
the view which the commission will ap-
parently take, and it is one which tho
experience of Europe finds, on the whole,
to be most just and practicable.
Imported Gold Lace,